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Monday, January 17, 2011

Old-Fashioned Gingerbread with Cheesecake Pockets - Blue Monday

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Our day began with an early rain so intense it sounded like hail bouncing off the metal roof. While it might not wake the dead, its tattoo brought the Silver Fox and I to the table at an early hour. We lit the fire and shared a pot of coffee as the house warmed to the new day. We lazed a bit and then readied for what we thought the day might bring. Our plans had no contingency for precipitation that would not stop. Oregon winter rains, while heavy, are rarely constant and cloud breaks make it possible for the swift of foot to get out for at least short periods of time. There were no cloud breaks today and the rains were heavy enough to maroon us on our hillside for the day. We read a bit and then both gravitated to the kitchen. Bob rolled up his sleeves and started on a soup he had been wanting to try, and I, by consensus, went to work on an old-fashioned gingerbread we have both come to treasure. Gingerbread regularly appeared on the tables of our childhood and, for both of us, it is a food that evokes memories of warmth and comfort and a world forever young. Strangely enough, the recipe I use these days has replaced the one that came from Bob's family kitchen. The interloper was developed by Lynne Rossetto Kasper for The Splendid Table and I must tell you that for a new-fashioned recipe it makes the best old-fashioned gingerbread I've ever tasted. It is moist and dark and barely sweet but brimming with old-world flavor. The depth of its flavor can be controlled by the type of molasses and brown sugar you use to make the cake. The cheese pockets in the gingerbread are something I don't normally include, but I used them today to add a bit of contrast for the photo. I honestly don't think they add much taste to the finished cake, but they don't harm it either. Gingerbread was loved by our European ancestors for what they believed were its medicinal values. They considered it to be a cure-all for a range of ailments and, in dried and crushed form, used it as baby food for colicky infants. Ginger is known to settle upset stomachs, so they may not have been too far off base. I serve it because we love its taste and knee-bending aroma. Only bread has more allure as it bakes. I like to serve this warm with lemon sauce or maple whipped cream. The cake is very easy to make and you can have it oven ready in about 15 minutes. I do hope you'll try this. Here's the recipe.

Directions:
1) To make the cheese mixture: Beat cream cheese until light and smooth. Add egg, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla and beat until well-blended. Set aside.
2) Butter an 8-inch square pan. Fit bottom with parchment paper. Butter paper and flour pan. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3) Whisk flour, baking soda, salt and spices together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
4) In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, molasses, hot water and brown sugar. When the mixture is almost frothy, beat in egg and gradually add flour mixture. Stir just until blended.
5) Pour half of batter into pan. Drop spoonfuls of filling over batter and pour remaining batter over top of filling. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until a tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool on a rack in pan for a moist cake. For a drier consistency, cool 10 minutes, then turn out of pan and set on rack to cool. Yield: 9 servings.

71 comments
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This looks wonderful and your history is real interesting! Gingerbread for colicky babies! If you can bake and Bob can cook at the same time, I would love to see your kitchen! Phil and I always have to dance around each other if we are both in there at the same time!

What a delightful day you had! I love it when that kind of weather comes my way on a day we have nowhere to be. My 3 girls and I cuddle up for a cozy day at home. Living in Florida, we sometimes get these rainy days in June. Don't get me wrong, we get afternoon showers everyday in the summer, but in May or June sometimes we get ALL DAY RAIN.

This winter (and last) we've been blessed with some unusually cold days for South Florida. It's been nice to hunker down at home & relax. We homeschool...so it's nice not to have to drag everyone out on days that aren't weather appropriate.

Thanks for sharing this delicious gingerbread recipe. My grandparents always have gingersnap cookies on hand in their freezer. I can't wait to try this!

This sounds and looks so good. I will keep this recipe and try it soon. I wish you could send part of your rains to us out here in West Texas. We are sooo dry. No rain and not a flake of snow has fallen here.

Gingerbread with lemon sauce was my mother's favorite dessert. She, too, extolled it's medicinal qualities. Of course, she didn't have to force it on us as we loved it as well. I can see how it would add delicious comfort to such a rainy day.

I absolutely love gingerbread! I'm not sure if I enjoy the taste or the smell of it more. Reminds me of my grandmother, Mimi :) And the idea of mixing in cheesecake with an already incredible delight...smile :)

as i was reading this post, i can almost visualise what a lovely morning you had even though it rains, i'm sure both of you enjoy and cherish all these special moments of being together. Have a nice day!

These look fabulous! I bet it would be great with a bit of cream cheese frosting too, since the cheesecake pocket didn't add a lot. By the way, I looooove your plate. It reminds me of this blue toile china I had for my childhood dollhouse!

I may have to do this - to ward off January's chill. It's snowing and I won't go anywhere until it stops so why not fill then home with scrumptious aroma and a warm dessert. I love Lynne Rossetto Kasper's recipes.

You have so many great looking recipes that it is hard to chose. My husband loves Brussels sprouts so I’ll try roasting them as your show. I was also pleased to see your recipe for crème fraiche as I did not know that it could be reproduced this way. That gingerbread with the cheesecake filling looks super yummy. I’d love to visit your kitchen!

Winter rain! Sounds pretty chilling early in the morning but it's a great start with that slice of cheesy gingerbread. The picture looks fantastic. I am loving it. Thanks again for sharing it.Regards, Kristy

Tried this this morning, exactly as directed, but found the cheese mixture to be extremely thin and runny. If anything, I skimped a bit on the lemon juice, so I'm not sure why this happened. The consistency was so very different from the cake batter (which was thick) that it was pretty miserable trying to get them to coexist - it was so thin that it ran away into the corners of the pan the minute I added it.

(It did bake fine, and the flavor is outstanding.)

Since your recipe says "drop spoonfuls of filling," I have to assume something went wrong with mine - any idea what?

Spidercamp, I just read your comment. I am a bit concerned. The cheesecake batter is always very thin but mine has never run to the edges of the layers. While I have never done this, it might help to use a smaller egg and make depressions in the gingerbread to hold the cheesecake batter. I can remember thinking the first time I made the cake that it wasn't going to work, but it did. The cake in the photo was made exactly as the recipe directs. I know that doesn't help much but it's the best I can do. Hugs and blessings...Mary

Thanks so much Mary, I bet that's exactly what happened. I forgot to mention I tripled the recipe, so by the time you factor in THREE times the amount of extra egg, my proportions must have been very different than yours!

When I posted that first comment, I had only baked a tiny test cake. When I did my 3 bigger cakes, I did just what you suggested, making depressions in the batter to hold the filling. It mostly worked, though a lot of the cheese mixture did seep back out to the edges. But no matter, the end product was really good - thanks for sharing this, and thanks for the reply!

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